3am
by speos
Summary: Karen Beecher and Victor Stone come to grips with the results of the 2016 US election.


a few days after the electoral college votes, just... figured.

happy holidays everyone!

* * *

Karen had spent the night with Vic, huddled under three of his warmest blankets and cradling steaming cups of hot tea to their chests.

She loved Roy and all, but there were some things that her boyfriend would never understand.

They watched together as California came in, but Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania slowly turned a bright blood red. They watched as commentators stopped trying to pretend there were two options, and began to turn their focus to just one.

The pale light of Vic's TV continued to play off their skin when he finally decided to mute the thing.

"Sorry 'bout Penn," Vic said, trying to smile. He had played ball for them for a little while before the accident.

Karen shook her head. "Sorry 'bout Wisconsin." Her mother's home state.

They sighed in tandem.

"I don't know if I have the energy to be angry anymore," Karen confessed. "We've dealt with all kinds of crazy shit, but this?" She shook her head. "I dunno."

"Just think: what would Superman do?" Vic quipped, and then they both laughed a little.

"That man's been preparing for Lex Luthor's presidency ever since he met the guy," Karen smiled.

Vic shook his head. "At least the Republicans haven't got Kryptonite."

Karen smiled briefly at the joke before turning inwards to consider Vic's original question. "Superman would say…" She paused. "He'd tell us to keep fighting for what's right. No matter what."

"Bruce'd call him a simple-minded boyscout," Vic said dryly.

"Did he…?"

"Three days ago, when Clark suggested keeping an eye on polls to make sure they were fair."

Karen rolled her eyes. "Supes is a special kinda nice, isn't he?"

"We're lucky he is. Who else could you leave on a floating fortress in the Earth's orbit and trust not to try to rule the earth?"

They both realized the answer before Vic had even finished speaking. Karen answered for them both: "No one."

"Well," Vic tried, "Lucky for us we have Bats, huh?"

Karen snorted. "That's luck?"

Vic shrugged. "It's all we've got."

Shaking her head slightly, Karen hugged her knees even tighter. "That's not enough."

Vic put an arm around her, and she leaned in, wrapping her own arm around his shoulders because friendship was a two-way street. "That's why we're here, isn't it?"

"The little guys."

"The guys who give more bang for their buck," Vic corrected. "We all made the same pledge, didn't we? To serve and protect? With all of us working our asses off, don'tcha think we could stand up to even Superman himself?"

Karen smiled at the memory. "We've done it before."

Vic didn't say, _We'll do it again_ , because Karen hated promises they couldn't keep. Instead, he said, "Until the end," because that much, at least, was true.

They had no other choice.

"You know," Karen said, washing her cup in the sink as the sky slowly started to look blue again and the sun struggled to rise from its bed, "things aren't better now, but I _feel_ better now."

Vic twisted around from putting his own cup back in the cupboards. "Why, 'cause the sun is coming up?"

Karen shrugged. "Yeah. Life goes on, y'know? Sun comes up, alarm goes off, and we gotta go to work. Birds still fly, ants still crawl – nothing has changed, but _everything_ is different."

They stood together in a moment of silence, letting Karen's words wash off their skin like a prayer.

Then the doorbell rang, and Karen opened the door to find Roy leaning against the doorframe like a cheap pornstar. "How was your sleepover, babydoll?"

Vic huffed a little, like he still kinda wanted to punch Roy in the face. Karen understood the urge.

"Shut up, speedo, and get in the car," Karen said, brushing past. "We got places to be today."

Roy rolled his eyes. "Sure thing, Bumblebitch." He threw a casual salute at Vic. "See ya."

Vic said goodbye, because _his_ mother had taught him manners.

From the car, Karen waved. "I'll see ya later, Sparky."

Vic smiled and waved back, before shutting his door to a blissfully quiet house.

With Vic gone, both Roy and Karen slid into the car, alone in an empty space.

Roy frowned at Karen. "Hey, Karen, you okay?"

"I'll be good, pretty boy," Karen said, but she rubbed at her eyes with her palm. "I'll be good."

"I know I don't understand…" Roy started, but couldn't finish. Karen would kill him if he tried to comfort her without even knowing how she felt, anyway. "I'm sorry," he tried, but Karen hated useless platitudes. In the end, he could only offer her his hand, palm up, and said, "I got you."

Karen gripped his hand, hard. It hurt. But she smiled. "I know you do, pretty boy. You've saved my ass over shit bigger than this anyhow."

"It's a nice ass," Roy said.

Karen laughed. "Drive, Harper. Drive."

* * *

hit me up with your thoughts 3


End file.
